Category Archives: The Muse at Work

My working notes, character sketches (written), reference materials & links. Commentary on news and the state of the artistic/writing community, discussion of technique and how-to’s, and highlighting innovation or exceptional creativity in art or writing.

I think, inadvertently drawing inspirations from things I’ve been reading, listening to, and seeing lately, I’ve managed to stumble into this year’s NaNoWriMo project. So I have the four and a half months or so until November to outline, reasearch, doodle character sketches, and otherwise prep to my heart’s content. But that also means I have four and a half months of resisting the urge to start writing. Clearly, my muse takes great pleasure in playing dirty tricks on me. Anyone out there started having NaNo2012 meetings yet? -.-

To give myself something to focus on during work-ups than the want-to-write, I want to try J.K. Rowling’s plotting style and see if it’s useful for me, and other exercises to help me get stuff lined up mentally before the big day. I also need to finish getting my work-space set up in the new house so I have a place to hermit myself away in while I’m writing. Four and a half months should be plenty of time. … Right? >.>

Say Marge, what kind of preparations do you like to do before a big project?

That’s what I kept telling them, but if they heard what I was saying, no one ever listened. I was just a lost soul, a creature to be rescued, to be redeemed and brought back to the bosom of civilization. No one ever asked what I wanted.

Not until him, at least.

The blurb inspired by some very cute girl-power art I found online, which in turn has inspired 1) a feral Gangrel Antitribu character for an upcoming Sabbat table-top game, and 2) the desire to write said character’s history (or a history based on the character) in long-form.

Watch for bits to be posted with the “Wild Thing” tag as I finish them. :)

In trying to continue working on last year’s NaNoWriMo project, I’m hitting a couple roadblocks. So I had a sit-down/brainstorm with a friend who basically ended up giving me a couple homework assignments:

Map out my characters and character groups, and their relationships to each other, and

Write a 500 word short featuring one character — it can be backstory, future scenes, whatever, but 500 words.

So I’ve been writing ideas down as they come to me, and have a sizeable list at this point. Now I just have to pick something, and you can help! :) Do any of the of the options in the following list catch your interest? What kind of short-form stories do you like to read?

The List:

Backstory: A scene from Harolyn’s childhood — surviving on the streets or fighting her way into a children’s street-gang

Backstory: A romantic scene with Harolyn (the main character) and [former love interest] (a character who shows up in the novel)

Backstory: Harolyn and [rival smuggler] butt heads (pre-novel, but this is an ongoing and unfriendly rivalry)

Behind the Scenes: Harolyn on a smuggling run — something sneaky? something completely mundane (or, “What does Harolyn do when she’s on a job that bores her senseless?”)

Behind the Scenes: How Brezo (Harolyn’s broker — the guy who finds her work) fixes up a meeting with an untrusting contact — part of the TCW, but happens off-camera

Future: Harolyn post TCW — Where does she go? What does she do? Interactions with other people (some who recognize her, some who don’t)

Backstory: What’s the story with Harolyn & Ginna? (a young barmaid — minor love interest character in the story)

Backstory: How Verity (the politico/gentlewoman) and Rhyme (her maidservant/bodyguard) became associates

Backstory/History: How Verity became the mediator for the Speakers (a Veridian activist group trying its best to work with reluctant/distrusting lawmakers to enact change) — possibly tied to her meeting Rhyme?

Backstory: School, political, or social scene with Verity and Traver (a fellow politico and colleague/on & off love interest)

Admittedly, most of these don’t really fit the spirit of the assignment. 1, 4, 5, 6, and maaaybe 12 do. Ideally, I’d like to end up writing all of these. It would be a useful exercise to help me flesh out character backgrounds and personalities a little more concretely; and it would also be cool to have a bunch of shorts that I could compile into a collection as a companion to the full-length story.

I think I’m leaning toward 1 or 4. The first one is completely disconnected from the current storyline, and would highlight some of the foundations of the way her personality formed. #4 could show us how she functions in, alternately, a high-stress situation of her own devising (as opposed to being tossed into the fray against her will), or when she’s more or less at ease and on her own. Hmm.

This is a list of the writing projects that I would like to work on right now. It includes simple blurbs and/or more of an idea of what each one is about, since I realized most of the items in this list are vague or don’t actually tell you much of anything.

I’m still struggling with prioritizing because I’ve caught the writing bug again, and want to write ALL THE THINGS, and want to write them all RIGHT NOW. I’ve been poking at “Saddle Brother” a little, trying to nudge it into story-shape. Having worked on “The Current War” frantically for an entire month, my brain wants to do something else for a while. -.- I dunno, what from this list sounds interesting to you? Do you have any thoughts or questions?

LONG-FORM

These are intended to be novella length or longer, with fully-developed storylines, and will generally be long-term projects.

Originally conceived as an exploration of a fantastic world through the eyes of its people. The planet Veridia is populated by people uniquely adapted, and with a strong affinity to their highly electrified atmosphere, and the roots of sentient trees form a worldwide network through which civilization is powered. Intrigue and eco-/terrorism are large features in this story, with politics and a dash of romance to flavor, and a smart-mouthed heroine running away from (and inevitably straight toward) the secret of her past. Almost 33k words written as of the end of that November 2010. [For the record, I dislike this working title, but it’s the best I’ve been able to come up with so far :/]

A dark fantasy about a former priestess betrayed by her goddess and hellbent on vengeance. She learns from another immortal wronged by this goddess that not all gods are born; some are made, and a made-god could have their power taken from them if someone were clever enough to find their fetishes and claim them for themselves.

Another world exploration, and again, one in which trees play a significant role in the lives of the planet’s inhabitants. An adventurous young nomad and his winged companion are exploring forbidden places when they stumble upon the remains of a prehistoric civilization. They unwittingly set in motion a chain of events that awakens the sleeping people of the ancient world, and threatens the way of life as it has come to exist on the planet.

Legend of the Mahuizoh (Genre: Fantasy | tag: Mahuizoh)

Mahuizoh is the man-given title of the world-emperor Centehua, who is the god of the earth, child of the Sun and Moon. When he was an infant, his parents created mankind to keep him company and be his playthings, but he came to love them as he grew. When he was old enough to take on the power of godhood, his parents wanted to destroy man, telling Centehua that he could not let himself become so attached to such finite beings. In order to protect them, he bound himself to the world, and to life in a mortal shell. But a god-spirit still, Centehua must rest for hundreds of years, or his power will destroy his mortal form, breaking his connection to the world, and leaving its people vulnerable to his celestial parents’ wrath. The story follows his awakening after a millennium of sleep to a world in which the Mahuizoh is merely a legend, almost forgotten.

Suicide Kings & Bedpost Queens (Genre: Fantasy | tag: Royal Flush)

Intrigue, romance, and possibly war will feature in this story of four allied kingdoms, based on the symbolism found in the face cards of a standard playing deck. The four kings form the Parliament of Kings, more often than not, bickering amongst themselves; the four queens, the Queens’ Cabinet with their own games of gossip and manipulation; and the jacks, unbeknownst to all, a secret society constantly vigilant for the security and wellbeing of the four kingdoms. This is still mostly in the conceptual phase, though I have a fair amount of notes on the figures in these three groups, and some on the world itself.

SHORT-FORM

Generally speaking, short-form projects can be worked on at the same time as longer projects, and are often simply a way for me to get ideas out of my head.

Saddle Brother (Genre: Fiction)

A vignette-turned-short-story about an unconventional war hero. Inspired by some Wikipedia reading I was doing recently. Told from an unusual point of view.

Tochtli’s Gamble With Teoxihuatl of the Moon (Genre: Fantasy)

A folktale from the world of the Mahuizoh, telling how the moon got it’s rabbit-shaped mark. A cunning young rabbit dares to wager against a goddess to win the heart of his beloved. [Another story from Mahuizoh’s world is “The Star That Followed,” telling of the star who loved Centehua and followed him into the mortal world. I may write that one eventually as well, or it may get worked into Legend of the Mahuizoh.]

Better late than never :) Overall, I’d say NaNoWriMo this year was a success, even if I didn’t get the winner’s badge. My wordcount was a far cry better than last year, and it’s encouraging to know that I do actually have the ability to wrap my brain around writing in long from. So my conclusions from this year:

2010 Final Wordcount: 32,853 (2009 was less than 8k.)

Crappy Working Title:The Current WarGenre: Science-fantasyBlurb: (in case you missed it here)Harolyn Flynn’s life is not an easy one, but it is rarely complex, and she likes to keep it that way. From street urchin, to petty thief, to accomplished smuggler elbowing her way into the ranks of the big boys, she has survived by her wits and the strength of her will. And if she happens to be running from a past she would rather forget, nobody yet has been the wiser…

Until the day a rival intent on revenge inadvertently lands her in the middle of political intrigue, and a manhunt that will threaten to expose everything she’s hidden, and then some, and throw her carefully constructed life into chaos.

What I Learned This Year

The level of story planning I did this year gave me a huge advantage. There was a noticable difference in my motivation this year compared to last (for which I did virtually no planning).

Having a friend along for the ride was a nice bit of motivation.

No internet (as was the case for the majority of the month :/) = significantly less distraction, but my brain is still perfectly capable of coming up with alternate means of distraction. -.-

“Write after work or during the day after waking; proceed until braindead or too sleep-depped to continue” is not a writing schedule conducive to avoiding burnout, or to having any sort of life whatsoever.

The Thanksgiving holiday and female-body-induced downtime murderize my writing momentum when they are not properly accounted/prepared for.

Simple forms of mental stimulation help me focus. (In this case, a couple games of Freecell before I start writing; puzzle solving gets the gears turning, but is uncomplicated enough that I don’t get sucked into it for hours.)

I have lots of words in me! O.O I haven’t written so much in many many years, if ever. I think I’m still much more comfortable with short stories than novelling, but most likely it’s because I’ve attempted it so rarely, and have only ever finished a fraction of what I started. :p

Some Goals for Next Year’s NaNoWriMo

Set down a concrete schedule for writing and stick to it. Maybe 2-3 hours/night on work nights, and 1-2 on weekends, or something like that. Hopefully this will make my time writing more productive and help avoid burnout.

Conversely, make sure there’s downtime. Take time to read actual literary material (as opposed to internet stuff), watch some tv, play video games, whatever. Maybe alot a certain amount/block of time, or a set number of chapters/episodes/levers/etc.

Minimize distractions as much as possible during scheduled writing sessions: put the phone away or turn it off, no tv, have music ready beforehand so I’m not tempted to mess with it when I should be writing, etc.

Maybe start planning a little earlier (six weeks instead of four?), so there’s more time for getting to know the characters and setting through vignettes and flash fiction.

Make it to at least one or two of the official “NaNolanta” write-ins, and arrange my own if I have friends taking part again.

And Now?

Now I’m almost 33k words into a story that is much bigger than I had originally intended it to be. I’m going to keep plugging away at it, and hopefully be able to finish it sometime early next year. Of course, now I’ve got the writing bug again, and want to write ALL THE THINGS. I’m going to make a list of all the recent ideas/projects and work on prioritizing everything. Off the top of my head, I can think of four long/-ish projects (this year’s NaNo story and last years, “Parthia Answered,” as well as “Hollow/Hollow World” and “Legend of the Mahuizoh” from this list), and two short ones (“Saddle Brother” and “Tochtli’s Gamble with Teoxihuatl of the Moon”) that I would like to work on, and there are most definitely more, some partially developed and many lines of conceptual notes in various notebooks. My friend Serge (my NaNo writing partner) has already brought up the possibility of doing regular writing/brainstorming sessions too, which could be fun, and help keep motivation up until next November.

All this time working on my notes and research for NaNoWriMo, I’ve been hard put to summarize my project — mostly, I think, because I’ve been trying to fill gaping holes in my plot outline. :p But I’ve finally got a blurb I think I can work with. Some of the details may end up changing a bit when I actually start working on it, but here it is:

Harolyn Flynn’s life is not an easy one, but it is rarely complex, and she likes to keep it that way. From street urchin, to petty thief, to accomplished smuggler elbowing her way into the ranks of the big boys, she has survived by her wits and the strength of her will. And if she happens to be running from a past she would rather forget, nobody yet has been the wiser…

Until the day a rival intent on revenge inadvertently lands her in the middle of political intrigue, and a manhunt that will threaten to expose everything she’s hidden, and then some, and throw her carefully constructed life into chaos.

And that’s the story! Sort of. This sounds so…mundane compared to what it actually is in its entirety. For starters, it’s not set on Earth. Also, the people on this planet aren’t human. Humanoid, but not human. Elves would be our closest equivalent — and don’t you give me that look. My elves are electric! >.> It actually started out as an exploration of the planet (Veridia), and it still is, but we’ll get to see it through the lense of its people.

Really? It’s a little silly how excited I am about playing in this [electrified, sentient tree- and elf-populated — yes, really >.>] world. Now if I could just come up with a working title that isn’t completely cheesy, or which makes it sound like something it’s not… :p

Still doing NaNoWriMo prep, and last night, after a planning session with my partner-in-crime, I’ve decided to do something that seems a little crazy: I’m cutting out about a third of the original cast of characters from my NaNoWriMo project. Those characters will also take a large strand of story with them, which means it’ll change a good bit, but the fact that I can cut them out and still make the story work (and better, I think!) says something. Essentially, I’m cutting out the “Princess Space Pirate” aspect of it. So instead of the focus being the ship’s crew getting pulled into the planetside story, it will be the world itself, and the things going on in it. I think this might be what I wanted all along, but I’ve been trying so hard not to become too attached to the story, and the PSP concept was supposed to make that easier. But really, it just ended up kind of getting in the way.

So. PSP gets set aside again, but I’m actually pretty excited about what this project has turned into. My NaNoWriMo posts will henceforth be tagged “Greenpunk,” instead of Princess Space Pirate. We’re not quite back to square one, because I’ve got notes and things I can and will still use. But my focus has been elsewhere up to this point, so I’ve got some catching up to do. :/ Different and new characters to familiarize myself with; more details for the plot outline that I need to work out/fit in; world background that I need to figure out. Oy. And only three weeks and change left til we get this ball rolling.

Dec 13, 2010: Updated to organize a little and add one or two things. | Note: Entries before this one were posted here from various of my other websites/blogs for archival purposes.

I was going to write a “Hi guys! This blog is about…” sort of intro post, but screw it. You’ll catch on eventually, or you’re probably in the wrong place. (And that’s what the “About” page is for anyway, right?) I’m still working on the site itself, but I’m tired of letting that keep me from posting. So on with the content!

Well, sort of. We’re starting out with a bullet list or sorts. Recorded and summarized here (in no particular order) for my own records, and for your general enjoyment, are notes on at least a few of the ideas that have been kicking around my head for the last few years. I’ll try to keep them brief, but it’s likely I’ll fail miserably.

Projects in Development

My NaNoWriMo project for 2010. Almost 33k words written as of the end of that November. Originally conceived as a means of exploring an electrified world populated by sentient trees and what we might call elves (but don’t let them hear you call them that), through the eyes of its people. Politics, eco-terrorism, secrets, a smart-mouthed heroine and a dash of romance.

Legend of the Mahuizoh (tag: Mahuizoh)

Setting inspired by/based very loosely on the civilizations of ancient Central-America. Inspired by a dream a friend had (hey, inspiration everywhere, right?). Mahuizoh is the man-given title of the world-emperor Centehua, who is the god of the earth, child of the Sun and Moon. When he was an infant, they created mankind to keep him company and generally be his playthings, but he came to love them as he grew older. His parents wanted to destroy them, telling him that he could not let himself become attached to such finite beings. To protect them, he bound himself to the world, and to life in a mortal shell. But a god-spirit still, he must rest for many, many years, or his power will destroy his mortal form, breaking his connection to the world and it’s people, leaving them vulnerable to his parents’ wrath. The story follows his awakening after a millennium of sleep to a world that has nearly forgotten him.

The full-length version of “How Mortals Gave Justice to the Gods,” the story I started (but didn’t complete :p) for NaNoWriMo 2009. A dark fantasy about a former-priestess betrayed by her goddess and hellbent on vengeance. She learns from another immortal wronged by this goddess that not all gods are born; some are made, and a made-god could have their power taken from them if someone were clever enough to find their fetishes and claim their power for themselves.

This one has been brewing for almost a decade at this point, and may be too fargone to rekindle the original enthusiasm I had for it. Another of those Joan of Arc-type stories, where the main character disguises herself as a man to fight in the war that killed her father. Unbeknownst to her, she was born to be the living embodiment of her people’s god of eternal flame/light, and it’s a good thing too, because the enemy’s army has found an avatar of Shadow and won’t hesitate to use it. She learns her true nature after her decision to leave home, when she receives a vision in a temple. But first, she must prove herself worthy to bear the Flame.

Asian-inspired setting. A short story collection with an overarching storyline, following a man who is being framed/accused of betraying his liege who is trying to regain a bit of honor before he returns to face the charges. Told from the POV of a young boy who found out the plot and followed him to avoid being hurt. Story/character/setting/etc concepts based on interesting words and phrases seen while driving. First story: “Bowman Vance and the Lightkeepers’ Village”

Saddle Brother

A vignette-turned-short-story I’ve been picking at, about a war hero. Inspired by some Wikipedia reading I was doing recently. Told from an unusual point of view.

Tochtli’s Gamble With Teoxihuatl of the Moon

A folktale from the world of the Mahuizoh, telling how the moon got it’s rabbit-shaped mark. A cunning young rabbit dares to wager against a goddess to win the heart of his beloved. [Other stories from Mahuizoh’s world: “The Star That Followed” (telling of the star who loved Centehua and followed him into the mortal world).]

Conceptual Projects

LONG-FORMHollow/Hollow World (tag: Hollow)

A pet-project as of August 2010. Working through this fantasy worldbuilding FAQ on the SFWA website, to get the world and some background fixed in my mind before I start with the actual writing. A concept built around unique aspects of the planet itself. Part Little Mermaid, part Fern Gully, part post-apocalypse/second evolution sci-fi re/discovery adventure.

Suicide Kings & Bedpost Queens (tag: Royal Flush)

Possibly a romance, or political/war adventure. A world and its people based directly on the symbolism in the face cards of a standard playing deck.

A travelogue of sorts, based on one person’s (“the Dreamer”) travels to other worlds through the dreamscape. Would be mostly the Dreamer’s thoughts on the people and cultures he encounters, with a smattering of more up-close encounters where the Dreamer gets pulled into dream events rather than simply observing. I’m actually considering turning this into a website of its own.

Mytho-religious Stories [Collection]

Pretty much exactly what it sounds like. This one doesn’t even have a working title yet. A collection of short stories based on myths and legends from the various conceptual worlds in my head. Would probably contain stories such as “Ona & the Weaver,” the elemental “Advent,” “Tochtli’s Gamble With Teoxihuatl of the Moon,” and “How Mortals Gave Justice to the Gods” (the short fire-side version of the story I started writing for the 2009 NaNoWriMo), among others.

Uuuh. Yeah, exactly what it sounds like, and really it hasn’t gotten much farther than that. I wanted a concept and some characters I could just play with and occassionally be completely silly, and and this was what I got. Kind of an ensemble series. Main character is the headstrong middle (and thus least politically useful) daughter of a king from some far-flung world. Rather than be dumped into a political marriage to someone she’s never even seen, she steals a starship from her father’s merchant fleet and runs away for fun and adventure (and trouble) among the stars. She’s also her father’s favorite, being most like him, and guessing what she’s up to, he sends the son of the Sergeant of his personal guard to keep her out of too much trouble. Also on-ship are a furry, hookah-smoking dragon engineer, and at least one or two others.

Tag names are included where I think they’ll be necessary, and links where they’re actually applied. I’ll likely come back to this from time to time and add or update as I see fit.